Seemingly Random Accidents. What Do We Do?

[NDiGio]

Hello all! I searched for an answer but couldn't find a situation that matched mine. We've had our first greyhound for 3 or so years and from day one, she's never had an accident. We welcomed our second greyhound about a month ago. We started her off by confining her to a small area of the kitchen with her bed but she would get so anxious, cry, and eventually escape. So then we confined her to a larger area of the kitchen. When she's in there for the whole work day, she doesn't seem to pee but sometimes will still escapes that area too. We figured since she escaped that area anyway, we've given her and our other greyhound free reign together of the kitchen and living room. However, when we leave for short outings, she pees. Yesterday, I ran to the gym for about an hour and came back to find an accident. Then today, my fiance left for no longer than 2 hours and came back to a pee spot on the carpet. An added instance is last night, she finished dinner and peed on the carpet while we were just in the other room. Of these three examples, she had been taken out and peed not long before leaving/the accident. We scold when she pees inside and praise(treats and pets) when she pees outside. If we're going outside just for a pee break, she runs out, pees pretty quickly, and then heads back towards the door so she knows the deal. Do we need to fortify that small area of the kitchen so she can't escape untill she stops having accidents? Do we need to go buy a crate and start from scratch? She doesn't have a problem with #2 and she will stay in her bed all night and not have an accident. Does anybody see something that we are missing? Thank you for any advice!

[DofSweetPotatos]

Catch a urine and drop it off at the vet. Confirm she doesn't have a UTI.

 

Editing to add: she may not be emptying out when she goes out. She might just be going enough to get praise and head in. After she finishes quickly, take her back around to get her to go again and empty out. Then praise.

 

If her urine is clear, revert back to potty training 101. Start from the beginning. Go out and potty after every event. Eat, potty . Immediate before you leave, potty. As soon as you come home, potty...etc.

Edited December 16, 2018 by DofSweetPotatos

[MaryJane]

I suggest that you do a urinalysis and maybe a culture to rule out a UTI. If she is going pee quickly outside, maybe she didn't finish. Take her out on a leash and walk around the yard for at least 5 minutes and see if she is one of the females that marks (bits of urine in multiple places) and if so, then you need to keep her out longer.

[NDiGio]

Thanks for the advice. When I went to the hardware store and she had the accident, it was after a 30-40 minute walk. The randomness is what gets me. She hold it all night, 8 or so hours. When shes loose all day while we have an eye on her, nothing.

[greysmom]

Check for a UTI as suggested.

 

Otherwise, it's actually not really random - she's going when she's being left. You might have a slight case of separation anxiety. Even if she doesn't go *every* time her humans leave the house. Something is happening to make her anxious (some noise or sound most likely) and she pees.

 

Make sure you;re cleaning up with a good enzyme cleaner and getting the spot as clean and dry as you can.

 

If you have a crate, and she's dry when left in the crate, you might want to start using it again. Set it up where she can see her sister and see how it goes. She may not like being crated anymore and then you need to decide if you want to keep at it with the crate. There are good reasons to have a dog that's comfortable being crated, but for some dogs they are simply counterproductive.

 

But check for a UTI first. A hookworm infestation can also sometimes cause this, so check again for those.

[NDiGio]

We'll definitely check for a UTI. She still does it even when were home and around her so I ruled out separation anxiety. She just have her initial check up with out vet and they confirmed that she has hookworm, which we started the medication for, but I hadn't seen anything relating hookworm to accidents. Thanks for the thought!

[Time4ANap]

In case you haven't found reference to it on the site, one of the easy ways to catch a urine sample is to get a ladle with a long handle at the dollar store and use it to catch the urine. Not quite as easy with girls squatting as it is with boys. You can also try a low, flat Gladware type container or disposable pie pan if that fits under her backside a little better.

 

Typically your vet will want the first urine of the day for a test.

[NDiGio]

In case you haven't found reference to it on the site, one of the easy ways to catch a urine sample is to get a ladle with a long handle at the dollar store and use it to catch the urine. Not quite as easy with girls squatting as it is with boys. You can also try a low, flat Gladware type container or disposable pie pan if that fits under her backside a little better.

 

Typically your vet will want the first urine of the day for a test.

Thanks for the heads ups. I was wondering how I would go about collecting a urine sample.

 

Has anyone else heard of the hookworm/accident correlation or have any references on it?